With just over 6 weeks to go till Xmas, now is as good as any time to reflect on CWB's efforts over the last 6 months.
We had volunteers going out on trips to Uganda, Kenya, Botswana and Rwanda, in the process coaching over 15,000 African children and training several hundred new coaches. That is almost 25,000 coached this year, a record for CWB.
David Murray joins us in the new year as the Charity's first CEO, after four years as Chief Executive at The Green Party - where he oversaw rapid growth of the party's membership and fundraising, and it's breakthrough into the UK parliament in the 2010 general election.
Speaking about his appointment, David said ''I am really excited about this appointment and feel privileged to have the opportunity to take such a fantastic charity onwards in its continued development. I want to help Cricket Without Boundaries to meet its ambitions to expand its operations to cover all of Sub-Saharan Africa so that we can reach many thousands more who are affected by HIV in their communities.''
CWB's work in Rwanda and Kenya will continue between projects after the charity appointed its first ever ambassadors.
The three coaches – two in Rwanda and one in Kenya - will be employed by their country's cricket associations through grant money supplied by CWB.
They will work in schools, universities and orphanages, coaching cricket with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS education.
2013 marks the third consecutive year in which Cricket Without Boundaries has benefited from the generous support of the Woodward Charitable Trust. The trust is one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts and generally supports small to medium sized charities across a number of areas including community and social welfare, the arts, environment and education. The money received from the trust has been directed towards projects in Rwanda, and have helped make the visits to that country some of CWB's most effective and memorable.
Last month I announced to the World via Twitter that I finally knew my status.
This wasn't my relationship status, or my Facebook status but in fact my HIV status. After years of telling anyone who would listen about the importance of regular HIV testing, I finally took a test myself!
Cricket Without Boundaries has been buoyed by a tremendous donation from the Red Snapper Group. Red Snapper contributed £10,000 towards the charity and is now proudly showing off its association with CWB via the company website with the CWB logo prominently displayed to all visitors.
When I first heard about Cricket Without Boundaries, CWB, I was intrigued and interested but this was tempered with a hint of caution or maybe even scepticism.
Featuring crowds of enthusiastic children, heart-breaking HIV/AIDS stories and more than a little thinking on our feet, the Autumn 2013 Uganda project was, quite simply incredible.
After many months of hard work, the new CWB ambassadors got going in Rwanda setting a fantastic foundation for an exciting six months ahead.
Luke Sellers reports on Day Nine from Uganda.
There are many things from our time in Kilembe that will live long in the memory; the breath-taking scenery, the insatiable appetite for cricket and the warmth of the people.
But above all of these it is the stories of two very special women in particular that will leave the most enduring imprint on myself and the rest of the team.
Cricket Without Boundaries will be one of four charities supported by Crabtree Junior School in Harpenden, Hertfordshire this year after being made aware of CWB by Mrs Renier who visited Northern Uganda with the charity in the Spring.
Mrs Renier said "After returning from Uganda I was amazed at the impact that CWB had with the children we worked with and wanted to continue supporting the charity as much as possible. Ian Patrick the head teacher has been incredibly supportive and I hope that our school will be able to help future projects out in Africa. I also think it will encourage my children to think about themselves as members of a world wide community for which we all have responsibilities.
First time volunteer Marissa Rundle, blogs from Rwanda about the relationship between women, sport and HIV/Aids.
At first it was difficult to see the link between coaching cricket and HIV/Aids education. How wrong was I. A few days ago we visited Fawe Girls Secondary College (Kigali). After a massive downfall of rain we braved the large puddles and roaming cows to play some cricket. It was their first introduction to the game and within a few hours of coaching we could see great potential for the Rwandan women's squad. They loved it.
A superb allround performance from BBC reporter Phil Mackie wasn't quite enough to prevent a Cricket Without Boundaries XI falling to a five run defeat to an England Women's XI at Arundel.
The newshound – famed for his heart-rending CWB documentary recorded in Rwanda and Kenya last year– took three wickets, a run out and finished on 36 not out as the charity just failed to reach their target of 128 in a close-fought encounter.
One of the things that most CWB volunteers experience is the inevitable obsession with Africa and the countries that they visited.
In the case of our long serving volunteer Veronika Reeves this obsession produced her debut novel Wrapped in a blue kikohi.
Long time volunteer and social media guru David Terrace reflects on what proved to be another successful training weekend for CWB.
After a superb day losing (marginally) to England Women at a picturesque Arundel, the CWB team thought that things could not get much better at the Autumn 2013 Training Day in Brighton. They were wrong; they did.
The picturesque Arundel Castle Cricket Ground will play host to a Twenty20 match between CWB celebrity XI and an ECB Women’s select XI, on Friday 13th September.
The match will see current and future England stars take on a CWB team to include former Notts player Darren Bicknell, radio 5 live's Phil Mackie, Keane's Tim Rice Oxley and former England Captain Clare Connor.
When we were first setting up CWB in 2004, we were reliant on the goodwill of people we had never met, and their belief that CWB was more than a flash in the pan.
Our first steps into Kenya were made through the Foreign Office and a link to Adrian Radcliffe who is involved with the Nomads, a cricket club which, amongst other things, plays charity matches in the Rift Valley in Kenya to raise money for local good causes.
Gary is a 34 year old Insolvency Practitioner who, on a day-to-day basis, works with investors/management of businesses in financial distress. Gary admits that whilst being a lifelong cricket fanatic his skill levels have sadly never quite matched his enthusiasm for the game! Gary played for a village side for a number of years as an average leg spinner and useful tail-end blocker, but these days is generally limited to one or two guest appearances each year.
Cricket Without Boundaries are pleased to announce that members of the team will be appearing live in the studio on Sky Sports programme Cricket AM on 27th July.
The popular cricket show, now in its eighth season, is filmed live on Saturday mornings from 8.30-10.30am.
Cricket Without Boundaries will be showcasing the unique way it uses cricket to deliver HIV/AIDS awareness messages at the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2013 which is scheduled to be held from 6 to 23 June in Birmingham, Cardiff and The Oval.
Volunteers from the charity will deliver coaching sessions to local schoolchildren at the Oval on 5 June and then again at Cardiff Wales Stadium on 8 June, with the first match of the tournament, between India and South Africa is scheduled for 6 June in Cardiff.
359 Ware Road,
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UK registered charity 1154576